Harry Potter and Hannah's riddle
by Hannah Lake
Summary: Harry Potter has just spent his sixth year at Hogwarts. As always, summer vacation feels like torture, but one day he meets someone, a girl called Hannah Lake, the answer to the greatest riddle of all...


Hello everyone, this is the fanfic I've come up with, only I've had to translate it in english because I'm french, so if you see mistakes please tell me! Enjoy...  
  
An unexpected encounter  
  
Until now, Harry Potter's summer had been like every other... His uncle Vernon and his aunt Petunia had come to get him at King's Cross and had given him the most unfriendly welcome. But Harry was too sad to even notice. He had just spent his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and he had to say goodbye to his friends while trying to ignore the looks of despise that his family was sending him. He wished Ron and Hermione a good summer, then left with the most desperate look. It was now a few weeks later after his arrival at number four, Privet Drive, and Harry Potter was wondering what he was going to do to survive until next beginning of term. He spent his time sending out owls to his friends, and polishing his wand along with his broomstick. He missed Ron and Hermione above all... Three weeks ago he would done anything to avoid Hermione's reproachful speeches, but now he would have gladly emptied his vault at Gringotts just to see her...Still, he knew he didn't have to worry that much, because only a few weeks from now, he would get the chance to go back to Hogwarts and spend his seventh and final year. He just had to keep himself busy, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that his situation was not that bad. His aunt and uncle still despised him, but they had given up on insulting or disparging him, now they had decided to show their disdain by totally ignoring him... This actually pleased Harry more than anything else. Today, uncle Vernon was at work, and aunt Petunia and Dudley had gone to London. Harry had the house to himself, and was thinking of ways to enjoy it as much as possible. What could he do to amuse himself? The weather was great and he could have gone for a walk but he saved his daily walks for evenings because it was the only time of day when neighbours stopped spying on passers-by. When Harry came back to wondering what to do with his day, someone knocked on the door. He was more than surprised because he was not used to seeing people come visit the Dursleys. Even if he was convinced that the Dursleys would have died rather than allow him to be seen in their house, he went to open the door. A young girl stood before his eyes. Her candid and dazzling smile was the first thing Harry noticed, however he soon realized that her smile was far from being the only element that made her the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her brown and wavy hair fell elegantly on her shoulders, while her marvelous green eyes brightened her face along with Harry's. She looked like she was about his age, that is to say around seventeen. It took a while for Harry to regain consciousness and finally speak to her.  
"Er... hi..." was the only thing he managed to say.  
"Hi, sorry to bother you. I'm Hannah Lake, I give math lessons to Dudley. He wouldn't happen to be here by any chance?"  
"Er...no..." he couldn't concentrate and articulate a coherent sentence. Hannah's eyes were confusing him so much that all his senses seemed to be fixed on their hypnotising colour. He couldn't bring himself to stop staring. Strangely enough, Hannah didn't seem to notice, she was probably used to being looked at by boys.  
"Well, he left his book at my house yesterday afternoon, I thought he might need it", she held out the book and Harry hurried to take it. However, when his hands grabbed the cover, they accidently touched Hannah's fingers. It was enough to make him red with shame, though this time Hannah realized it and gave him a friendly smile.  
"You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" He didn't believe his ears... How could she know him? They had never met, and obviously she wasn't a witch because she didn't seem to have noticed the scar on his forehead. It was usually because of this that people recognized him: it was very peculiarly shaped like a lightning bolt.  
"Yes..." he answered a few seconds later, "but how do you know me?"  
"We were in primary school together. I know you don't remember me... I spent most of my time trying not to be noticed by anyone, so it's okay if you're having trouble placing me." According to what he had just heard, he was not the only one who had kept a bitter memory of primary school.  
"Anyway...I remember you. I remember your cousin was already quite the bully. He used to be horrible to you, I suppose he still is... He hasn't changed that much since then." Indeed, Dudley had not changed, he was still the same spoiled pest, and he kept getting worse every year. But Harry was doing much better with him than in primary school since Dudley was scared to death that he might turn him into a toad or a pig. Of course, he couldn't say this to Hannah.  
"Yeah, that's true, he's not getting any better, but I know how to keep him at distance now..." he said in an amused tone.  
"Well, good for you... But if I remember correctly, you were doing all right with him when you were nine... One time, he and his friends were chasing you, and I don't know how you managed to get away, but when we found you, you were on the roof... Dudley felt ridiculous and I envied you so much! I always wondered how you had done it..." Had she just said that she had envied him? Harry had to pull himself together or he was going to faint. A girl like her had wanted to be like him? Was that even possible? Anyway, he had to figure out what to say to Hannah. He couldn't tell her what had really happened because muggles weren't really acustomed to hearing words like "magic" or "apparating". Harry was slowly realizing how disconnected he was from the muggle world: he had to weigh his words everytime he opened his mouth. Not to mention the fact that Hannah's marvelous eyes were not at all helping him to concentrate.  
"Er... I er... went through a door which er... led me directly to the roof." After having mumbled these few words, Harry started to dread Hannah's reaction. But instead of looking sceptical, she nodded and smiled.  
"Yeah, that's what I thought... " For a few seconds none of them said anything. Harry didn't know what to say, he was afraid he might stutter again, but he started to talk again:  
"Where do you live?" he asked her very quickly.  
"At Townsend road, it's right in front of the park. Do you know it?"  
"Yes, I take that street every evening when I go through the park... There's not much to do around here, so I take walks..." Harry felt much better... Words were starting to come back to him, which made him feel relieved. After all, Hannah was not terrifying after all. She was beautiful, but oddly, she didn't seem to know about it. Usually, very pretty girls were proud and contemptuous, but not her. She glanced at Harry, and said:  
"Listen, I have to go now, but I thought that er... maybe... if you don't mind of course... I could come with you tonight... But I totally understand if you don't want to..." That was it... This was time Harry was really going to faint. His legs startedto shake, and he felt drops of sweat trickling down his neck. "Come on, pull yourself together" he thought. He finally said:  
"No, no... I don't mind at all. Where do you want to meet?"  
"Maybe we could meet at the swings in the park." she said  
"Ok... that's where I go most of the time... Eight o'clock all right?"  
"Yeah, it's perfect... See you tonight then!" She smiled one last time, then set off towards the street. Three minutes later, Harry realized he was still staring at the corner of the road where Hannah had disappeared... 


End file.
